Apple Sued For False Advertising Over Apple Intelligence

Apple has been hit with a federal lawsuit claiming that the company's promotion of now-delayed Apple Intelligence features constituted false advertising and unfair competition. From a report: The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, seeks class action status and unspecified financial damages on behalf of those who purchased Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones and other devices. "Apple's advertisements saturated the internet, television, and other airwaves to cultivate a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone's release," the suit reads.

"This drove unprecedented excitement in the market, even for Apple, as the company knew it would, and as part of Apple's ongoing effort to convince consumers to upgrade at a premium price and to distinguish itself from competitors deemed to be winning the AI-arms race. [...] Contrary to Defendant's claims of advanced AI capabilities, the Products offered a significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence, misleading consumers about its actual utility and performance. Worse yet, Defendant promoted its Products based on these overstated AI capabilities, leading consumers to believe they were purchasing a device with features that did not exist or were materially misrepresented."

Reality Distortion Field

[Khyber]

So much for that. Now you get to see that Apple's been lying a LOT to get where it is.

Which is basically a fact for any company worth more than a few million dollars. They didn't get rich by following the law, and in all reality they should be arrested for their crimes and jailed and their profits forfeit.

Re:

[Valgrus Thunderaxe]

You know a million dollars isn't a lot of money? That's eight-months rent in San Francisco.

Re:

[thegarbz]

It isn't false advertising to delay a feature or product. Quite the opposite in fact, the lawsuit is claiming the software that they do not have differs from the description.

The product wasn't delayed. That is the point. AI was advertised as launch feature of the latest iPhone and it wasn't.

Notice how they didn't claim in the suit apple is not accepting returns? That's because they do.

That's not relevant in a deceptive advertising claim.

That's why this suit will get thrown out.

No. Your lack of understanding of how the legal system works is why you *think* this suit will get thrown out.

Re:

[Khyber]

"Except the summary and article completely fail to list any laws broken or crimes committed."

Good job demonstrating that you cannot read.

""Apple's advertisements saturated the internet, television, and other airwaves to cultivate a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone's release,""

"Contrary to Defendant's claims of advanced AI capabilities, the Products offered a significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence,

30 Trillion Dollar Fine

[zenlessyank]

Will fix everything with Apple.

"unprecedented excitement"???

[cusco]

This drove unprecedented excitement in the market, even for Apple

These particular lawyers must not have been watching the tech world for long. Lines of fanbois used to form for new Apple shiny days ahead of a launch. We didn't see that for their AI.

Re:

[postbigbang]

IANAL, but if I had a nickel for every pre-annoounced tech product line that never saw the light of day, I'd have a mountain of nickels.

Pre-release noise is standard business procedure.

Butt-hurt, however, is not an injury that can be supported in litigation.

Was Apple stupid to screw up? Yes. Did people actually hold off, breathlessly waiting Apple AI? No. Were I a betting person, I'd lay high odds on this getting thrown out, with prejudice.

Re:

[ThumpBzztZoom]

That would be great, if this situation was even slightly related to a tech product that never saw the light of day. This isn't a concept that didn't pan out only affecting the hopeful. This is a product sold in great numbers that advertised a key feature as the reason to upgrade, but that key feature did not and never has existed.

This is no different than advertising a self-flipping spatula, taking the customers money and giving them a regular spatula. You did receive a spatula, your new spatula works exac

OTOH...

[Jeremi]

When Apple realized their self-driving car wasn't going to work out, they quietly killed the project. They didn't advertise it as "Full Self Driving" and sell it to thousands of people despite the fact that it couldn't actually do what the name said.

Re:

[Powercntrl]

I'd venture a big contributing factor to the cancellation of Apple's car was because it was going to be electric. Lately, we've been seeing a lot of examples where if your company's name isn't Tesla, that's probably not going to work out. Hell, even if your company's name is Tesla, things aren't looking so great.

Oppositeland

[abulafia]

The Swasticar might be under pressure, but that's not because it is electric.

This seems to be one of those things like "cities have high crime" - a certain type of person is going to believe it no matter what the reality is.

Here on this planet, EV marketshare over time [eia.gov] looks like about the curve you'd expect for expensive, long-lived devices requiring new fueling infrastructure in a massive market.

Ironically

[Powercntrl]

Apple could totally get away with false advertising if they really were a religion. Or a politician for that matter, too.

Let's be honest though, did anyone really feel like they got ripped off because Apple didn't come through with a slightly less awful Siri? This smells more like lawyers looking for a payday than customers genuinely going "Welp, only bought this thing for the AI features, so I may as well throw it in the trash!"

Re:

[cusco]

With that UID you've probably seen enough fanboi action in these forums to wonder why Apple doesn't just declare itself a religion and be done with it.. The gods know I have.

Re:

[presearch]

Always buy a computer that everyone hates.

Re: Ironically

[stupidmuricans]

Actually. I did. But sure, it wasnâ(TM)t the entire reason, but I was unhappy with my 14 Pro that I had to buy because my previous phone fell apart unexpectedly. So when they announced the 16 and also signaled that this was a divider in terms of future functionality I decided that I should make this switch sooner rather than later. I usually keep my phones for 3-4 years. But I also assume, they will figure this out. Siri has been lacking for years, especially in context driven scenarios. But Iâ

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Tim Cook donated $1 million himself [macrumors.com] to Trump's inauguration. Maybe that was not paid by Apple, Inc., but in a world where so many CEOs are considered the company's face I see no big difference.

Re: Apple didn't donate to Trump or open up iMessa

[stupidmuricans]

I think it actually makes a difference. It is clear that Apple wants to create as few waves as possible right now in regards to the new US administration, but in reality, I think they want to continue their work in DEI and with the climate. They already been in the forefront of this work for years. Things like that doesnâ(TM)t change overnight, so this is just them bending the knee and asking to be left alone.

sounds like a load of BS

[dfghjk]

Apple didn't saturate anything, it advertised a feature, and it didn't generate "unprecedented" anything.It was totally ordinarry. Also, what damage was done and what competition suffered. Bush league of you ask me.

Since when is Apple lying about AI even comparable to OpenAI or Musk lying about AI? It's not even in the same conversation.

I have a 16 Pro.

[jdawgnoonan]

I have a 16 Pro, and it is a great phone, but they did scam customers regarding Apple Intelligence. That said, I think all of the AI stuff is a scam. Silicon Valley snake oil. I did not buy my 16 Pro because I gave a crap about Apple Intelligence, but they still did exaggerate to the point of lying.

Re:

[registrations_suck]

I have a 16 Pro Max. I bought it for the USB port. Don't give a flying fuck about inform of "AI".

I am completely confident that the people filing this lawsuit don't give a fuck about AI either - they just see a payday.

But it glows!

[Tony Isaac]

That's what I saw advertised by Apple...the new glowing outline around the face of the phone. That part at least seems to work!

AI fundamentall IS A FRAUD

[ConstantineXI]

Because Computers do not think are not sentient and therefore will never be "intelligent!"